Marcial Kobe
packs of dainty joybites


Recently i've discovered this new store at The Central that drew my close attention to. Those dainty little bite-sized donuts and fish-shaped pancakes are simply too welcoming to resist!


Their mini donuts each come in the size of a fifty-cent coin.. super cute.


Priced at..
12 donuts for $4
10 fish-style pancakes for $4
Purchase 3 packets for $10 & get it neatly packed into a box.

Fish Style Pancakes (10 for $4)


Freshly made on metal moulds, these traditional japanese pancakes are created doubly-fun with the twist of fillings. Being miniature in size, it is easy to sample all the available flavours at one go.


5 different fillings: (clockwise from top) Chocolate, Cream, Maccha Azuki, Red Bean & Strawberry

All were special in their own ways but i liked the cream and red bean ones best! The cream was thick and the red bean paste came chunky without being too sweet. Chocolate and strawberry were good as well, but the maccha one didn't bear much green tea taste.

Mini Donuts (12 for $4)


Now for the donuts.. they came in 4 types: Plain, Sugar, Maple Syrup & Chocolate. Slightly dense hard-crusted, these were the perfect poppers for a snack, yumyum.


on a another occasion, they also had a new flavour: Chocolate with Rainbow Sprinkles

Overall: The japanese-influenced concept is just so appealing and i certainly cant get enough of them! Go get your packs of joybites now, haha (:

Marcial Kobe
The Central #B1-40
6 Eu Tong Sen Street

Ice Monster
bowls of wicked sweetness


A wonderful place to be on a hot-scorching day. Ice Monster offers a whole range of icy cold taiwan-style shaved ice desserts- all healthily made and served with plenty of natural fruits.


Each mountain-like bowl consists of shaved ice, condensed milk, chunks of fruits, a scoop of sorbet and a finishing drench of puree. Completely packed with full flavour of the chosen fruit (mango, strawberry, kiwi or mixed)!

Strawberry Shaved Ice ($5.50 for small size)


This strawberry version usually comes with a tinge of sourness due to the natural strawberry fruit. Although some may not like it, i think it is a good contrast to the sweetness. The sorbet and puree are also made fresh with pure strawberries.

Mango Shaved Ice ($4.90 for small size)


Mango should be the most bestselling flavour-in-demand here, since most of the people i know of would choose to have this. Combination of the ice, milk, sorbet and puree is just pure refreshing (:

Overall: Every bowl comes generously topped with the fresh fruit chunks. Their claim to be fresh, healthy & natural is certainly justified.

Ice Monster
The Bencoolen

My Secret Garden
a secret to be revealed


An interesting choice of location- tucked away in an enchanting corner of the arts & culture hub. Both alfresco and indoor dining available at this hideaway and an internationally styled menu is offered. The soft warm lighting at night gives the restaurant an intimate ambience perfect for a relaxing meal.

Calamari Rings with Thai Chilli Sauce ($12)


Big chewy squid rings under a thin layer of breaded coating. The softness of the squid gave a slight hint of it being overcooked and the crust was rather greasy as well.

Grilled Salmon Steak ($25)


Another overcooked dish- the salmon slab was pretty tough and dry. However, it went well with the teriyaki sauce and it came with my favourite broccoli.

Crayfish & Scallop Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce ($20)


One worthy main course which came with 2 fresh fleshy crayfish and huge scallops. Its really appetite-whetting in that well-simmered tomato based sauce.

Blueberry Cheesecake ($7)


I've finally found the 2nd best blueberry cheesecake!(coming in after The Cheesecake Cafe) Their homemade version comes complete with the desired texture, cheese level and blueberry infusion. They even top it with an addtional dollop of chunky blueberry puree for the extra bliss. One thing, that paltry crust just needed some fine-tuning.

Overall: A mixture of good & poor dishes shown but the enchanting ambience is one of a kind. Here's a perfect escapde for a private and holistic dining experience.

My Secret Garden
161 Middle Road
(sun-thurs) 11am-11pm
(fri-sat) 11am-1am
http://www.mysg.com.sg/

Carls' Jr
charbroiled mega bites


Ooh, a second visit to my favourite fastfood restaurant! Its been long-awaited, ever since i fell in love with the very first charbroiled burger i had here (: The burgers at Carl's Jr. are seriously quality versions compared to the other fastfood chains in Singapore. 3 words to describe: Fresh, huge and addictive!

Superstar Burger with Cheese
"two charbroiled all-beef patties, two slices of melted American cheese, crisp lettuce, two slices of tomato, sliced onions, dill pickles, special sauce and mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun"


Cassandra went for a mega fat-looking one; SUPER STAR.


It actually looked pretty disappointing to me initially with the averagely thick beef patties; the burger was probably just bulked up by the fluffy sesame bun. Tastewise i could not judge but just by looking at her chomp on it happily, it was obvious how it fared. Oh and things got really messy with all those sauces oozing all over.

Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Burger ($7.10 for burger only)
"charbroiled Chicken Breast, crisp lettuce, tomato and tangy BBQ sauce on a honey wheat bun"


Here's my well-loved ultimately satisfying BBQ Chicken burger!


Its huge; not due to the bun but instead the lusciously thick and succulent chicken breast patty. Every bite of it revealed fresh, tender and juicy meat packed with a tasty barbeque smoked flavour. YUMMY!

Shoestring Fries


This is just one of their side choices. Can be replaced with either crisscut fries, beef chilli cheese fries or onion rings.

Overall: This american food chain certainly lives up to its name of the mega charbroiled burgers. Prices are a tad more expensive than other fastfoods but the food is definitely worthy. Just the size is already satisfying enough (:

Be warned, its gonna get messy.

Carl's Jr.
Plaza Singapura #B1-25/26
68 Orchard Road
http://www.carlsjr.com.sg/

Fong Kee Roast Duck
cantonese roast in demand


Fong Kee holds a good reputation in the Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio estates, where their 2 stalls are seemingly popular with the residents. Being well-rated by Makansutra, i decided to suggest trying it out after picking up my mum from work in Toa Payoh.

They specialise in roasted meat and charsiew but also served hong kong style noodles.

Char Siew Wanton Noodles Dry ($2.50)


The noodles came ligher-tasting with only a fade-coloured gravy and a tinge of dark sweet sauce. However, pretty lousy blanching resulted in the oversoggy and clumpy noodles. Wantons were passable with strong chive flavour but the soup was distinctively tasty! The fine morsels of charsiew, supposedly the highlight, were as flavourful as anticipated but did not further impress.

Dumpling Noodles Dry ($2.50)


Same noodles but with 3 dumplings instead of wantons for my sister. Nothing much to rave about the dumplings, just plain minced meat and minced prawns which could hardly even be seen.

Mum had a Dumpling Soup ($2.50) which came with 4 of the same dumplings in that robustly tasting soup.

Fong Kee Roast Duck
Blk 124 Toa Payoh Lor 1
Lek Chew Restaurant #01-459

Resto Surabaya
a different style of ayam


I only knew about Ayam Penyet after Life! published an introductory article on it. There are apparently 2 shops at Lucky Plaza but we decided to go for Resto Surabaya instead of Ayam Penyet House due to the better dining ambience.

With their chef being originally trained in Surabaya (East Java),they guarantee authentic indonesian cuisine. Other than Life!, they have also been featured on various malay newspapers and magazines.

Ayam Goreng Kremes ($5)
"surabaya-style fried chicken"


The signature dish- Ayam Penyet, served with a tempeh and fried beancurd.


Well marinated and deep-fried, the skin was crispy and suprisingly non-greasy. The chicken meat was tasty and tore into flossy pieces. Some bits of fried batter were added for an extra crunch. Beware of the killer chilli, its so stinging spicy that it numbs the lips.

Ayam Bakar ($5)
"grilled chicken"


Another version of their chicken but grilled instead. This chicken was slightly less moist and beared a burnt charcoal flavour. Came with a delightfully sweet and spicy sauce for dipping.

Kerupuk ($1)
"prawn crackers"


Es Teh Lemon ($1.80) & Teh Indo ($1.50)
"iced lemon tea & indonesian tea"

The teh-indo was nice with a mild rose flavour infused in it.

Their Nasi Putih (steamed rice, $0.50 per plate) came slightly too dry and wasn't warm enough.

Overall: My first time having ayam penyet and they actually managed to leave me with a good impression of it. Will continue to hunt for better ones in future (:

Resto Surabaya
Lucky Plaza #02-63/64
304 Orchard Road

Big Scissors Curry Rice
two-four-seven letdown


Spotted this bright-looking curry rice stall when we brought Sis' china exchange friend to Maxwell on the intention to have chicken rice (which was unfortunately soldout by the time we got there). Decided to make do with the local mixed rice instead.

My Rice;

Chose Fried Fish Fillet, Braised Taupok & Egg Tofu with Cauliflower. I liked the fish fillet best; it came coated with a pleasant sweet-tasting sauce. The tofu was average but the taupok was extremely salty and greasy.


My sister had Assam Fish, Fried Beancurd Cubes & Longbeans. Tried the fish- it wasn't fresh and tasted badly sour.


The student picked the black bean Fish (with plenty of bones) , Fried Taugua & Kailan. She left half the taugwa and almost half the rice untouched.

Overall: Mediocre fare that can be found anywhere else with some dishes really poorly done. All i liked was the fish fillet. Open 24 hours daily.

Rating:

Big Scissors Curry Rice
Maxwell Food Centre
24 hours